03/01/07: NYPD cancel 2 LOC shows ahead of time?!Punk News reports that 2 of Leftover Crack's shows on their current tour were canceled after police officers showed up at their Brooklyn show forbidding the band to play and threatening to shut the club down for "code violations."

The band was scheduled to play a benefit for environmental and animal rights activist Daniel Mcgowen this Thursday and with Citizen Fish and Witch Hunt this Saturday. The band is promising to find a new venue for the Saturday show, and that information is expected soon.

Heads up. Apparently the NYPD cheif of police & the working stiff racist self-serving pigs of this corrupt murdering plunger-raping poice department have decided that if Leftover Crack is allowed to practice free-speech in the city of New york, they will threaten to shut down the venues that harbor our concerts. We only speak & sing about killing cops. This does not cotton to the "freedom" espoused by these pigs as the american way of life they claim to defend. Have you seen the billboards reading "support our troops at home and abroad" with a photo of a menacing army fatigue wearing baby-killer as well as one of our very own home-town pigs. What this billboard implies is that besides our "enemies" overseas, there is a war against the citizens of this country & the troops are the police that your tax-paying dollar supports. these blue-uniformed soldiers are our enemies & one day you will call them to report your neighbors loud music playing and the next day they will kick in your front door under the usual false pretenses. And when you have a bullet in your head because you were reaching for your standard identification card you'll be lucky if these fuckers even apologize to your loved ones. because after all, they were only following their standard procedures of shoot first ask the dead body questions later.So, earlier today, when the NYPD showed up to club Europa with pictures of myself and my band members threatening to close down the club if we were allowed to perform our two scheduled shows, I think they might of scared the shit out of the club owner. Needless to say, at this point in time, none of the members of Leftover Crack happen to be wanted under any criminal charges or out-standing warrants, but under a facist government such tactics are fairly common when the the state feels threatened by artistic expression. I have not heard of this occuring in NYC before, but when the police feel like flexing some non-legal muscle, being above the law, they tend to do what they want.And so we are scrambling for alternate venues for the two shows we have booked in brooklyn. If we find a place, we plan on honoring all of the pre-sold tix as well as accomidating those folks that wanna pay at the door. All I can say is please stay tuned to this myspace page as we will update it as soon and as often as neccesary to get this situation resolved and hopefully we will still get to play these two shows for you as well as and especially to make some money for the legal defense of our comrade Daniel McGowan.Fuck the NYPD and their illegal intimidation tactics, if anything this will only serve to strengthen our resolve and our reasoning as to why we believe these foul pigs need to be put in check. Hopefully someday the winds of change will blow some sense into the people of this country and they will realize that our most immediate enemy is the officer that pretends to serve & protect you when they are in fact here as an occupying force in the charge of the rich & powerfull. Inseaed of sucking down the everyday lies of the government controlled media & the fast-food poison shoved down your ignorant throats, you can open up your fucking eyes to this "brave new world" of your sycophantic control. We're on the front-lines & the enemy is one-time.
Kill Cops, Save freedom, stizzzls"

02/26/07: AT Mail Male back from NOLA
Mailorder's open again and I'm diving in sending out orders from the past week as fast as I can. Don't forget, we'll have the brand new Citizen Fish/Leftover Crack LPs available to be shipped out to you this Wednesday the 28th!

Mailorder was closed this past week because I was in New Orleans for my first Mardi Gras (here's a shout-out to the Krewe de la Mort and Karen of WTUL!) and first visit to New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina. I'd been to NOLA a bunch in the 90s, but nothing prepared me for the devastation in both rich and poor neighborhoods and business districts throughout the flooded areas. It's shameful that it's been a year and a half and miles of the city are either uninhabited or lightly inhabited. The fact that our President didn't even mention New Orleans in January's State of the Union address is reason enough to impeach the motherfucker!

Here
s a new item that says it all. East New Orleans is a swampy area within New Orleans city limits. From the 2/20/07 issue of New Orlean's alternative weekly Gambit Weekly:"Search for Dead Delayed
Seventeen months after Hurricane Katrina, the search for the dead is still not over. In fact, it has yet to resume after being halted this past summer. Unspecified "problems" have prevented the Orleans Parish Coroner's Office and St. Tammany Parish search and rescue teams from canvassing the swampy Michoud area in eastern New Orleans, according to John Gagliano, chief investigator for the Orleans Parish coroner's office. "Houses in Michoud have not been searched," Gagliano confirmed last week.

A citywide search led by New Orleans firefighters ended in June. Estimates by both Orleans Coroner Dr. Frank Minyard and State Medical Examiner Dr. Louis Cataldie put Katrina's death toll in Louisiana above 1,500. But, during a November budget hearing at City Hall, Minyard told the City Council that the Michoud area had not yet been canvassed. In December, Gagliano said the search for remains would resume after the holidays. The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), which clashed with the city over funding issues tied to previous searches, is not involved in the proposed search of the Michoud area, says Gagliano."

02/19/07: Mailorder CLOSED this week! Open again 2/26
IMPORTANT:Mailorder is closed this week, from Monday 2/19-Sunday 2/25. All orders will be processed and shipped again starting Monday 2/26/07. If you placed an order on our website and haven't received a "Your order has been shipped" e-mail, your order hasn't been sent out yet but will be at the front of the line come Monday 2/26.

Sorry for any delay! We will be open as usual for mailorder during SXSW week. Rock on!Jesse/AT Mail Male

02/16/07: Let Them Eat Jellybeans review
Everyone's favorite punk/indie/??? news site, Punk News Dot Org has put up a review of the classic (and VERY out-of-print) Alternative Tentacles "Let Them Eat Jellybeans" compilation. Read the comments from the 'Org's readers, including the Mail Male, about the impact and history and likelihood of it being repressed.

02/05/07: Mass e-mail glitch- sorry!
We had a one-time glitch in our mass e-mail program on Friday, resulting in multiple copies of the e-mail being sent out. We apologize and the problem's been fixed. Hope you all enjoyed the hot news & sales in the e-mail!Rock on and again, we're sorry about the glitch!- Jesse/AT Mail Male

02/03/07: 924 Gilman Flick is Bat-bound!
It looks like Alternative Tentacles will be releasing the dvd version of the long-awaited "924 Gilman" film directed by Fifteen's Jack Curran and his Scarred Films outfit. The documentary includes interviews with tons of people, including Jello Biafra, Ian MacKaye, Rancid, Offspring, Jesse Michaels, author Wendy-O-Matik, & your AT Mail Male Jesse Luscious. There's also many live performances, including Operation Ivy, Fleshies, Pansy Division, Screeching Weasel, The Frisk, and Ted Leo And The Pharmacists. Some of the proceeds will go directly to the 924 Gilman collective.

The release date of the dvd is to be determined, but the official World Premiere of the finished version of the 86 minute documentary will be at this year's San Francisco Noise Pop Festival on Saturday March 3rd, 2007!

01/12/07: Alternative Tentacles closed Monday 1/15/07
It's Martin Luther King Jr Day here in the US, which is a national holiday. We will be open again on Tuesday 1/13/07. Check out audio, video, and text versions of King's famous 1963 "I Have A Dream" speech.

01/09/07: RIP Wes Robinson
East Bay jazz, metal, and punk promoter Wes Robinson died 12/27/06 at the age of 80. He began booking jazz in NYC in the 1960s (he gave 'Pharoah' Saunders his nickname and booked both Alice and John Coltrane). When he returned to his native East Bay, he continued booking jazz and theater. In the early 1980s he began booking punk shows at Ruthie's Inn, a small bar on San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley. Along with the Keystone & the Berkeley Square, it was one of the only consistent pre-924 Gilman punk-friendly venues in the East Bay. Bands as varied as the Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains, Dicks, DRI, Metallica, Fang, MDC, and Flipper played Ruthies through the late 1980s. In fall of 2006, a "Ruthie's Reunion" show in West Oakland drew hundreds of people and featured bands like Fang, Verbal Abuse, MDC, Fuck Ups, Bad Posture, and many more.

More information about Wes's life and legacy can be found in his Berkeley Daily Planet obituary. A memorial service open to all is happening this Saturday 1/13/07 at Geoffrey's Inner Circle, 410 14th St., Oakland. 510-384-4988 for more information.

12/28/06: 924 Gilman turns 20!?!924 Gilman is the all ages volunteer run arts space in Berkley, CA. This New Year's Eve is the 20th Anniversary of the very first show @ Gilman on December 31, 1986. To celebrate this milestone, there's 4 days of great shows & various activities at Gilman:

__Thursday 12/28 free
7PM-9PM
Panel Discussion (snacks and non-alcoholic drinks provided)
The discussion is about Gilman's place in the local art scene, past, present, future, what it is, and, um, whatever the audience wants to talk about. Panelists include Kamala (who discovered the current site of Gilman in 1986), Zarah (ex-coordinator 1995-2000), Ben (ex head of security 2000s), Pat Wright (handyman/gadfly throughout), and Jesse Luscious (Secretary 1991-2005). Moderator will be Dan W.

__Sunday 12/31
10AM-2PM
free- Record Swap! Thrash, hardcore, garage, punk, new Wave, ???. If you want a table for selling, they are Full table = $20, 1/2 Table = $15. To reserve a table, please e-mail gilmanrecordswap@gmail.com If you just have a few things Walk -ins are welcome! Load in for sellers is at 9:30 AM
2PM-on
Basketball, Chess, Hangin' Out, who knows?!

924 is at the corner of Gilman/8th Street. The #9 bus from Berkeley BART or the 72/73 along San Pablo will get you there, or you can take the Gilman Street exit off of I-80 & head towards the hills.
All events are all ages, drug & alcohol free. Events with door prices require an annual membership card ($2 @ door).
http://www.924gilman.org show info line: 510-525-9926

12/21/06: Buzzkill rocks Jersey Friday!
That's right, Joisey's finest Buzzkill are rockin' the Garden State this Friday at The Court Tavern in New Brunswick, NJ. This rare show by these reclusive AT snarlers also features Dirtnap Records "It Band" The Ergs.

12/20/06: Democracy Now/AT three-fer!
That's right, you can check out 3 of AT's spoken word artists- Noam Chomsky, Robert Fisk, and Howard Zinn- on today and the last 2 days of Democracy Now, hosted by Amy Goodman. All extensive excerpts of recent talks feature mp3s, transcripts, and podcast versions available for free at the links below. Dig in!

Howard Zinn on the uses of history in the War on Terror.Noam Chomsky on Latin America, the Iraq Study Group, and more.Robert Fisk on the Iraq Study Group and more.Robert Fisk giving keynote address to Muslim Public Affairs Council about injustice and Muslims.

12/07/06: Credit Cards are BACK!
Our site is now repaired enough to accept new credit card orders! Now you can order on-line again via American Express, Discover, Mastercard, and Visa, as well as Paypal, money orders, international money orders, and checks drawn on US$.

All pending phone orders will be processed asap, and new orders are a go! All old credit card orders which haven't been charged yet are still on hold, sorry. Hopefully we'll get to the bottom of that soon.

12/02/06: Dirk Dirksen Memorial Today
Dirk Dirksen, legendary San Francisco promoter and force of nature, passed away Monday night, November 20th, 2006. All of us here at Alternative Tentacles are extremely grateful that we were able to work with him and- in Jello's case- play many shows for him at the Mabuhay. Our condolences to his family and friends.

12/01/06: Anti-Corporate Film Festival Starts Now!
The 2006 Anti-Corporate Film Festival runs from tonight, December 1st, through Sunday December 3rd at the Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th Street (at Mission Street, across from BART), San Francisco, CA.

Who said an anti-corporate film festival has to be serious, preachy, or (dare we say) boring? Well, it sure wasn't the folks organizing the CounterCorp Festival, which launches its inaugural
year with a series of movies chock full of action, intrigue,
activism, crime (real and alleged), violence, and yes, even humor.

Check out their website for ticket and show time information. Among the festival's flicks, there's "The Forest for the Trees," "PIRATE RADIO USA," "Alternative Freedom," "SEVERANCE," and "THE FUTURE OF FOOD"!